The ultimate leak finding thread <post if you find a new source!>

[Julian]

New to this website and new to owning a Yamaha after 34 years of owning a Mercruiser outdrive boats. Not sure if this has been covered here before. I bought a Yamaha 2022 212SE a month ago. Love the boat but was concerned about the amount of water that would drain from my boat after a few hours on being on the water. Looked into the usual suspects, the anchor locker wasn't the problem, I taped up the outside of the drain and filled it with water and it didn't drain a drop. Went to the back of the boat and sprayed water all around, when I sprayed water on the clean out port tray, I could hear water draining into the boat, pulled the center cover off and instantly felt a wet area in the center of the larger plastic cover that covered up the entire tray. When I emptied a few glasses of water around the outside raised area I could see water pouring through the front center. I attached a few pictures of the area. Yamaha did a very poor job of sealing that joint. It should be an easy fix that I would normally do myself but I will be taking back to the dealer for a 10 hour service anyway and will show them the video I took on the problem. Hopefully you can see the problem in the attached photos I included.

That would be Section A#3. Clean out tray seal. I just caulked mine with some clear silicon caulk. Super easy. If the hatch is leaking, jetboatpilot makes a riser to effectively dam off the hatch area. Mine leaks some, but not enough to worry about. Plus I have 2 bilge pumps!

 

[kgower]

New to this website and new to owning a Yamaha after 34 years of owning a Mercruiser outdrive boats. Not sure if this has been covered here before. I bought a Yamaha 2022 212SE a month ago. Love the boat but was concerned about the amount of water that would drain from my boat after a few hours on being on the water. Looked into the usual suspects, the anchor locker wasn't the problem, I taped up the outside of the drain and filled it with water and it didn't drain a drop. Went to the back of the boat and sprayed water all around, when I sprayed water on the clean out port tray, I could hear water draining into the boat, pulled the center cover off and instantly felt a wet area in the center of the larger plastic cover that covered up the entire tray. When I emptied a few glasses of water around the outside raised area I could see water pouring through the front center. I attached a few pictures of the area. Yamaha did a very poor job of sealing that joint. It should be an easy fix that I would normally do myself but I will be taking back to the dealer for a 10 hour service anyway and will show them the video I took on the problem. Hopefully you can see the problem in the attached photos I included.

JBP sells a riser you can install which may help. I installed it on our195s, verdict is still out.

 

[WbSoCal]

Min

JBP sells a riser you can install which may help. I installed it on our195s, verdict is still out.

I saw that. Mine is leaking under the larger plate, not under the center cap. Not sure if that large plastic plate is supposed to be totally sealed or not.

 

[kgower]

Min

I saw that. Mine is leaking under the larger plate, not under the center cap. Not sure if that large plastic plate is supposed to be totally sealed or not.
[/QUOTE
I'm not an expert, but I can't see how sealing the large plastic plate would hurt. Obviously would make access and maintenance more difficult.

 

[Julian]

Min

I saw that. Mine is leaking under the larger plate, not under the center cap. Not sure if that large plastic plate is supposed to be totally sealed or not.

Yup.....just use some silicon seal around the edge....super easy.

 

[Steve73]

Has anyone had this issue? I have a 2018 AR190 and I am pretty sure what is happening is water is getting past the clean out plug, filling up the the tray and leaking into the back compartment of the boat. I notice this happens at higher rpms. I did an hour and half ride at high rpms 6000+ and when I came off plane my bilge kicked on for about 30 seconds. I also always have water at the end of the day regardless if we went in the water. about 5 gallons. I am going to put a gopro in there to confirm, next time I am out. So I know to fix this I can silicone the tray (and I will) to prevent water from going down into the boat and this way it will just go out the drain tube. However - is there a fix to stop the water from getting past the clean out plug? Is this normal?

 

[tdonoughue]

That is probably not what is actually happening, though many have thought so. Conventional wisdom now is that the drain hose back in the tray does not have a check valve on it. So when you are rolling along and then stop, water comes up the drain hose and from there fills the plug wells and if the tray is not sealed will leak into the bilge. You can plug the drain port to verify (but if you leave it plugged, of course, your wet storage won't drain). Several have thought about putting in a check valve, but I don't think I have seen anyone who actually did it yet...

 

[Julian]

Has anyone had this issue? I have a 2018 AR190 and I am pretty sure what is happening is water is getting past the clean out plug, filling up the the tray and leaking into the back compartment of the boat. I notice this happens at higher rpms. I did an hour and half ride at high rpms 6000+ and when I came off plane my bilge kicked on for about 30 seconds. I also always have water at the end of the day regardless if we went in the water. about 5 gallons. I am going to put a gopro in there to confirm, next time I am out. So I know to fix this I can silicone the tray (and I will) to prevent water from going down into the boat and this way it will just go out the drain tube. However - is there a fix to stop the water from getting past the clean out plug? Is this normal?

This thread shows that water can indeed slowly push past the plug gasket. Also suggests water isn't coming up the tube....but not sure that part is conclusive.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/cover-between-clean-out-ports.35207

 

[Farny]

2020 195s - make sure the tube that connects your deck to the scupper valve is connected properly. The first year I had the boat everything on the deck drained right into the engine compartment. White hose.

 

[jocolo21]

That is probably not what is actually happening, though many have thought so. Conventional wisdom now is that the drain hose back in the tray does not have a check valve on it. So when you are rolling along and then stop, water comes up the drain hose and from there fills the plug wells and if the tray is not sealed will leak into the bilge. You can plug the drain port to verify (but if you leave it plugged, of course, your wet storage won't drain). Several have thought about putting in a check valve, but I don't think I have seen anyone who actually did it yet...

Here you go, one way valve....

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

FWIW,

On my FSH the clean out tray area has two large molded in drains on each side. My boat also had the 3/4” clean out tray drain installed as if were the other type of clean out tray that is like a bath tub.

After reading this thread and others I became aware there was a geyser of water that would happen each time I slowed down from cruise inundating the clean out tray from this 3/4” drain. Some of this water would leak past the inspection hatch O ring and end up in the bilge. I cannot figure out why Yamaha left this 3/4” drain in place after they had molded in the side drains.

I was going to just put a check valve in the drain, but again why? Then I decided to just remove the drain all together and was going to use the bottom 3/4” thru hull for the outlet for the aft bilge pump I was going to add but could not find a check valve with low enough restriction so I ran that outlet over to where the oem bilge pump outlet was.

In the end I installed the JBP hatch riser to handle any water that got on top of the tray from either the clean out tubes or the big wave on slow down and abandoned that 3/4” drain altogether. After chasing down a couple of leaks that I created doing upgrades over the winter I now have zero water coming out of the main drain at the end of the day.

 

[tdonoughue]

Here you go, one way valve....

Any indication as to whether it worked or worked well?

 

[Cambo]

This is what I used it works great the large hatch and inspection hatch are both sealed as well. Fill that compartment with water put a cork or something in that drain and watch how fast the water makes its way into the bilge and out the drain plug

Amazon.com: Watkins Replacement Water Check Valve for Hot Springs Spa, 3/4" - 35233 : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com: Watkins Replacement Water Check Valve for Hot Springs Spa, 3/4" - 35233 : Patio, Lawn & Garden

www.amazon.com

added more screw to inspection port

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

This is what I used it works great the large hatch and inspection hatch are both sealed as well. Fill that compartment with water put a cork or something in that drain and watch how fast the water makes its way into the bilge and out the drain plug

Amazon.com: Watkins Replacement Water Check Valve for Hot Springs Spa, 3/4" - 35233 : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com: Watkins Replacement Water Check Valve for Hot Springs Spa, 3/4" - 35233 : Patio, Lawn & Garden

www.amazon.com

View attachment 181826






View attachment 181827

added more screw to inspection port


View attachment 181828

Nice job with the oteiker clamps!

 

[BBottoms]

Another area to check for leaks is where the impeller shafts come through the hull to the intermediate bearing/coupler, which is protected by a short hose and thru hull fitting. Inside of this hose stays wet and submerged when in the water, so a good seal is critical. Since I've bought my boat I've always had 3-4 gallons come out almost every time I pull the boat out of the water, basically everything that sits in the keel that the bilge can't pump. I've checked many of the things in this thread with no obvious leaks of significance. In my case, it only seemed to accumulate water when the engines were running. I could leave it wet slipped and engine off all weekend and the bilge didn't seem to ever kick on, but if I ran the boat at speed for 5 minutes, it would almost always kick on the bilge once I stopped and moved to the back of the boat, shifting the weight, and water, to the bilge. I've had the issue since I purchased, but it had slowly gotten worse, with the bilge kicking on more and more often. Heading to Bimini in a few weeks for 7 days, so was determined to get it as dry as possible.

Got poking around one day on the water and noticed water leaking from the seal between the plastic thru hull sleeve and rubber hose on both the port and starboard side. The area had a ton of haphazardly placed silicone around it, but it was easily peeled off by hand and obviously wasn't adhering to the fiberglass or sealing anything. Tried tightening the hose clamps first with no improvement. As mentioned, it wouldn't noticeably leak sitting still, but under power it did. Assuming the spinning shaft inside of the hose increased the pressure some, pushing water past the seal. Ultimately ended up pulling the pumps, pulling the thru hull sleeve, cleaning off the clear silicone and mating surfaces, and reapplying 3m 4200 sealant on both the face of the fitting and inside of the rubber hose. A couple of the screw holes were stripped out seemingly from the factory, so I used the next size up (#10 vs #8) and made sure they were sealed with 4200 as well. Should of done it a long time ago, whole thing only took 2-3 hours, with taking my time.

Got it back out on the water for the July 4th weekend. Boat stayed in the water 3 days and had 6-10 kids on and off all weekend pulling tubes and water on the swim platform constantly. Checked through the access port as best I could and didn't notice any obvious leak. When I pulled it out of the water Monday and pulled the plug it wasn't bone dry, but was a fraction of what I typically see. I think most of what was in there leaked around the access port with all the kids on and off the back so much and the wet storage tray staying soaked. Also never noticed the bilge kicking on even once the whole weekend, which hasn't happened in a long time. As little water that came out, I don't think it ever made it to the bilge. Hoping to get it out this weekend and see how much of an improvement it makes on a 1 day trip without as much activity on the swim deck.


Here's how it was from the factory. You can see the poorly applied silicone on the left and obvious runs from the leak. This is the port, but both side looked and leaked the same.


Here's the nasty silicone I peeled off, largely by hand. Zero adhesion or sealing.


Here's what the plastic thru hull fitting looks like removed and cleaned up.


Here's where the fitting goes. It was a pain to remove all the old silicone from this area as it's just hard to reach. Ended up using a brass wire wheel to clean it up after getting what I could off with a razor blade. Top screw hole was stripped out for the factory #8 screw, so used a #10 screw on reassembly.


Here's the reassembled connection from the cleanout. Notice the white 4200 peeking out of the hose


Here's the reinstalled fitting in the pump tunnel, again, notice the 4200 peeking out of the edges.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Another area to check for leaks is where the impeller shafts come through the hull to the intermediate bearing/coupler, which is protected by a short hose and thru hull fitting. Inside of this hose stays wet and submerged when in the water, so seal is critical. Since I've bought my boat I've always had 3-4 gallons come out almost every time I pull the boat out of the water, basically everything that sits in the keel that the bilge can't pump. I've checked many of the things in this thread with no obvious leaks of significance. In my case, it only seemed to accumulate water when the engines were running. I could leave it wet slipped and off all weekend and the bilge didn't seem to ever kick on, but if I ran the boat at speed for 5 minutes, it would almost always kick on the bilge once I stopped and moved to the back of the boat, shifting the weight, and water, to the bilge. I've had the issue since I purchased, but it had slowly gotten worse, with the bilge kicking on more and more often. Heading to Bimini in a few weeks for 7 days, so was determined to get it as dry as possible.

Got poking around one day on the water and noticed water leaking from the seal between the plastic thru hull sleeve and rubber hose on both the port and starboard side. The area had a ton of haphazardly placed silicone around it, but it was easily peeled off by hand and obviously wasn't adhering to the fiberglass or sealing anything. Tried tightening the hose clamps first with no improvement. As mentioned, it wouldn't noticeably leak sitting still, but under power it did. Assuming the spinning shaft inside of the hose increased the pressure some, pushing water past the seal. Ultimately ended up pulling the pumps, pulling the thru hull sleeve, cleaning off the clear silicone and mating surfaces, and reapplying 3m 4200 sealant on both the face of the fitting and inside of the rubber hose. A couple of the screw holes were stripped out seemingly from the factory, so I used the next size up (#10 vs #8) and made sure they were sealed with 4200 as well. Should of done it a long time ago, whole thing only took 2-3 hours, with taking my time.

Got it back out on the water for the July 4th weekend. Boat stayed in the water 3 days and had 6-10 kids on and off all weekend pulling tubes and water on the swim platform constantly. Checked through the access port as best I could and didn't notice any obvious leak. When I pulled it out of the water Monday and pulled the plug it wasn't bone dry, but was a fraction of what I typically see. I think most of what was in there leaked around the access port with all the kids on and off the back so much and the wet storage tray staying soaked. Also never noticed the bilge kicking on even once the whole weekend, which hasn't happened in a long time. As little water that came out, I don't think it ever made it to the bilge. Hoping to get it out this weekend and see how much of an improvement it makes on a 1 day trip without as much activity on the swim deck.


Here's how it was from the factory. You can see the poorly applied silicone on the left and obvious runs from the leak. This is the port, but both side looked and leaked the same.
View attachment 182422

Here's the nasty silicone I peeled off, largely by hand. Zero adhesion or sealing.
View attachment 182426

Here's what the plastic thru hull fitting looks like removed and cleaned up.
View attachment 182423

Here's where the fitting goes. It was a pain to remove all the old silicone from this area as it's just hard to reach. Ended up using a brass wire wheel to clean it up after getting what I could off with a razor blade. Top screw hole was stripped out for the factory #8 screw, so used a #10 screw on reassembly.
View attachment 182424

Here's the reassembled connection from the cleanout. Notice the white 4200 peaking out of the hose
View attachment 182425

Here's the reinstalled fitting in the pump tunnel, again, notice the 4200 peaking out of the edges.
View attachment 182427

Thanks for posting this ! I wondered how all that went together back there. I‘m glad to see you got the leak fixed by and large.

 

[BBottoms]

Thanks for posting this ! I wondered how all that went together back there. I‘m glad to see you got the leak fixed by and large.

I've known about this leak for a long time, and kept putting off the fix assuming it would be a pain to do. Ended up being one of the easier things I've done on the boat, definitely should of tackled it sooner!

 

[Steve73]

I will put a go pro in here and see if that’s the case for mine. Mine looks alright though from looks of it. Funny timing on the posting I currently have my back opened up trying to look around and see where water could be getting in.

 

[BBottoms]

I will put a go pro in here and see if that’s the case for mine. Mine looks alright though from looks of it. Funny timing on the posting I currently have my back opened up trying to look around and see where water could be getting in.

Factory is definitely a fan of 'more is better' when it comes to sealant application. Yours certainly looks better sealed than mine was, and with better quality silicone. I still feel this is an area that should really be sealed with 4200 or similar though. Yamaha puts a lot of faith in silicone!

 

[Steve73]

I’m definitely getting water in from somewhere. It’s only when I’m up on plane for awhile. I suspect it’s water pumping past my clean out plug and then the tray isn’t sealed properly. But I will definitely aim the go pro at the area you highlighted to check that too so thank you!